More tax plans fight for spotlight

ATLANTA --- The 2008 session of the General Assembly is shaping up to be about a greater variety of taxes than many predicted.

It's little surprise to hear plenty about House Speaker Glenn Richardson's proposal to replace the school portion of local property taxes with an expanded statewide sales tax on fresh food and services. He announced last year that he would have a plan to vote on in 2008, and he spent the summer and fall trying to drum up support around the state.

His stature as House leader and the plan's broad scope practically guaranteed his proposal would dominate most of the session and overshadow most other legislation.

A few Senate tax bills weren't expected to get traction as a result, and competing tax schemes for transportation funding didn't appear to have much of a following.

However, the script apparently got rewritten, as the first week showed.

Mr. Richardson's enthusiasm hasn't waned, but Gov. Sonny Perdue and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle have become bolder. Both have been speaking in blunt terms about Mr. Richardson's plan, which they call a tax shift.

"The public clearly understands tax cuts. I think the public is often confused by tax shifts," Mr. Perdue said at a news conference Thursday morning. Hours later, Mr. Cagle said almost the same thing to reporters.

Each has his own ideas about taxes.

Mr. Perdue has been pushing to eliminate the income tax for senior citizens since he promised it in his 2006 re-election campaign. He's added an idea his campaign rival proposed: elimination of the 0.25 mill the state levies on residential property.

Mr. Cagle sprang his own tax surprise Thursday. He predicted passage of a constitutional amendment to allow voters in individual cities or groups of cities to levy a 1-cent local sales tax for transportation projects.

Mr. Cagle also outlined his concept for a cap on local property taxes. While details remain fuzzy, it would essentially freeze all property assessments until each local government's residents approved a uniform method of valuation. Then taxes could only rise 3 percent to 5 percent annually unless voters agree to a higher boost.

As Mr. Perdue's and Mr. Cagle's tax strategies were gaining steam, Mr. Richardson's was losing some, especially as House and Senate budget writers grew leery of a provision the speaker used to defuse some critics. To stop worries that school systems would suffer if sales tax collections lagged during a recession, Mr. Richardson now would have the state guarantee a steady flow of funds.

"Sounds like a blank check to me," said Sen. Jack Hill, R-Reidsville, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Capitol insiders are betting on a property-tax freeze or cap or some kind rather than the Richardson swap.

Many Republican members of the House privately worry about his plan but figure they'll have to vote for it to avoid Mr. Richardson's wrath. As long as Democrats all vote against it, the plan will fail to get the two-thirds majority it needs as a constitutional amendment.

Reach Walter Jones at (404) 589-8424 or walter.jones@morris.com.